AGR Reunion Concert

September 21, 2003

(I've been meaning to post this for about two weeks now)

I was very happy to see Agents of Good Roots play for the first time in almost two years. While they're on extended hiatus, the occasional reunion show is a nice reminder of why they're such a good and unique band.

The setlist:
John
Get Me There
Radio King
Hobby
One Strange Land
Code of Silence
Shotdown
Miss Misbelieving
Jakob
Smiling Up the Frown
Two Bucks in Cash
Shine On, Mama
Sidewinder
John Brown
(E): Where'd You Get That Vibe?
(E2): Miss America

This was one of the few, if not only, times I've seen them come back out for a second encore, but the crowd was very appreciative and loud.

The setlist was about as representative of a greatest hits as possible despite the exclusion of Straight, The Blinds or anything sung by Stew. It was obvious the band hasn't played together much lately, not only because they had to spend some time trying to figure out if there were any songs they could all remember to play for the second encore, but also because the songs were presented straight-ahead, without many changes or segues. That didn't preclude them from taking different approaches to some of the songs, such as Stew's badass bass line in Shotdown, the more stripped down take on John Brown, or Andrew's slowly building solo in Jakob. In other cases, the reversion to older arrangements sounded fresh, such as in Get Me There and Hobby. Get Me There featured a virtuosic saxophone credenza from JC. All the songs sounded fresh, because I hadn't listened to any versions of them lately.

John opened with a very freeform opening, due to the fact that the band didn't have a soundcheck.

Radio King, Hobby, Code of Silence and Smiling Up the Frown are excellent songs. The count off and opening of Where'd You Get That Vibe? is undoubtedly a great way to start an encore.

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